The present invention relates generally to holsters for handguns, and is particularly concerned with retention devices for preventing handguns from accidentally falling out of holsters and also resisting unauthorized removal of handguns from holsters by persons other than the wearer of the holster.
Weapon retention for uniformed police officers has been a concern of holster designers for decades. It is very important for a police officer's security that an assailant cannot readily remove a handgun from the officer's holster. However, it is similarly important that the officer can readily draw the handgun from the holster when needed. Providing adequate security against unauthorized withdrawal while still permitting a quick draw of the handgun by the wearer of the holster has proved to be difficult to achieve, although numerous retention devices have been proposed in the past.
Because revolvers were the handguns of choice for American peace officers for more than 100 years until the 1980's, retention devices were generally designed to grip a revolver by its cylinder and/or trigger guard recurve. Some prior art devices were clips designed to grip the frame or cylinder of a pistol or revolver. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 609,317 of Zimmerman, and a later device of this nature is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,238 of Bianchi. Both of these devices are designed to grip the entire handgun.
In the 1970's, it became apparent that semi-automatic pistols were gaining favor in both police and civilian applications, and this required different designs for gripping devices. Initially, some holsters were provided with a bump or dent in the outer side wall to press into the trigger guard and thereby create friction.
In a large number of security holster designs, the holster has a full or partially open front or forward end wall, and the handgun is withdrawn by moving or pivoting it forwardly to release the gun from the retention device, which is normally designed to resist drawing of the gun straight upwardly out of the holster. Semi-front opening holsters are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,942,692 of Chica and 4,542,841 of Nichols. Numerous trigger guard gripping devices have been designed for use in such holsters. Typically, such holsters are also equipped with a secondary retention device such as a security strap. These straps are typically used with fully or partially open front holsters and are arranged to pass around the front opening of the holster. The strap must be released before the handgun can be rotated forward to release from the trigger guard gripping device.
One such retention device designed for fully or partially open front holsters is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,007 of Bianchi and Nichols. This holster has a spring loaded projection which extends into the trigger guard when a handgun is inserted in the holster. The projection prevents an upwards draw while permitting the handgun to be pulled forward to release the projection. Numerous other holsters have been designed in a similar manner. Another commercially successful holster of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,654 of Rogers, which also combines a trigger guard gripping device with a semi-front opening holster. The trigger guard gripping device in this case has two opposing bosses or barbed fins in the side walls of the holster which engage in the trigger guard. An elongated, rigid spacer is positioned below the fins to form a rest or stop for the trigger guard. The holster body is provided with voids into which the fins flex to permit the lower portion of the trigger guard to pass the fins or barbs. The fins then flex back out into the central opening of the trigger guard. Once the trigger guard is fully seated, the fins will resist upward drawing of the handgun.
Another similar retention device is provided in a Gould and Goodrich holster which has a spacer or "welt" inserted into the seam at the rear end wall of the holster. The spacer is made in two halves, each having a cantilever fin projecting from it to engage in a trigger guard when a handgun is inserted into the holster. Rivets project through the holster sidewalls and both halves of the spacer adjacent the fins. This is a bulky arrangement and may give rise to substantial stresses on the fixed fins. A later version of this holster had a separate spacer on which the pistol's trigger guard rests after insertion of the pistol into the holster. The retention device in this case is also made in two halves, with a fin for projecting into the trigger guard from each half, and has a narrow ledge on which the trigger guard rests. The rivets are spaced from the fins to allow the spacer to split open in a limited way at the fins, when the fins are being spread by passage of the trigger guard, thereby reducing strain on the cantilevered fins and reducing the risk of the fins breaking off. Both this device and the Rogers device rely on the holster side walls to complete the integrity of the device by encircling the split area.
In all of these prior art devices, the relationship between the trigger guard stop and the retention fins is critical. If there is too much space between the stop and the retention fins, the pistol can move around in the holster, which is undesirable and can cause wear on the pistol surfaces. When too little space is provided, the trigger guard of the pistol may fail to fully engage in the device, resulting in reduced weapon retention and thus reduced security. Since the spacing between the fins and the trigger guard stop or rest in such holsters may vary in production, it is difficult to ensure an optimum position of the fins relative to the trigger guard stop. If this optimum positioning is not achieved, the retention device may be of reduced effectiveness.